So, as some might have observed, I've been listening to Lindsey Stirling here and there and I like what I hear even though it's very different from what I usually listen to. She released this album last October. It's basically a Christmas album filled with presumably her take of the Christmas classics that we always hear around this time, and she has, I think, three original songs in this one. Let's see how it goes.

Well, that Lindsey Stirling Christmas album was an ok listen. The one thing I will say is that the instrumentals are all right, but the sound is basically what you would hear if you listen to Christmas music on the radio at this time. The few songs that had vocals in it represented the poppier vibe of certain Christmas songs (sounded like it came from Disney). I think only the song that had vocals that did not sound so Christmas poppy was the title track (I think Lindsey Stirling herself sang that one). That one had that Christmas classic-vibe with trumpets.

I need something more rocking right now and to tie the Christmas theme together.

Trucker Diablo - We're Gonna Rock This Christmas

I think Mark gave them a mention on Twitter a few years back around this time and I liked it so I'm going to revisit it.

So Skillet decided to release the deluxe edition of their Unleashed album (titled Unleashed Beyond) this year. Holy cow, this track is so much better, imo, than the majority of the Unleashed album. I think it reminded me of their sound from their Awake album. Lacey Sturm was featured well in this one.

Edit: All right, so far, the bonus tracks of Unleashed Beyond, with the exception of You Get Me High which sounds like something Halestorm would create (which is fine for Halestorm, but for Skillet? I'm not so sure), is better than the majority of the album. What the heck, Skillet?

Meadow by Stone Temple Pilots w/ new singer Jeff Gutt. Was curious how they were going to play RotR and I missed the recent news and new song. Went through a period of listening to STP a lot a while back and was thinking how sad it was they had lost both singers. Liking this, he sounds similar to Scott and the new song sounds like some of my favorite STP songs of old.

AB4Lyfe wrote:Been diving deeper and deeper into the Trivium catalog, and I’m loving what I’m hearing.

Trivium - Ascendancy (album). What a hell of a record.

Ah man, if you're just now finding Ascendancy then you've been missing out lol. It and Shogun are easily their best two albums imo.

I had only heard a select few tracks from it: Departure, Like Light to the Flies, Gunshot, and Pull Harder. But today was my first time listening to the title track, Rain, and others that were damn good.

U2's Songs of Experience album. The 35th album released in 2017 that I have listened to.

So a few years back, U2 released their album Songs of Innocence which I thought was a good album, albeit very very marred with the way they marketed the album where they got Apple to download the album to everyone's iTunes account. They always mentioned that that album was part of a double release where the Experience album will be released in the future. Well, here it is now. Hope it's good.

Mastodon's Emperor of Sand album. The 36th album released in 2017 that I have listened to.

Going through a list of albums that was released in 2017 on Wikipedia. Trying to see if there is an album that I overlooked that I want to hear. Decided to listen to this one. I heard nothing but good things about these guys and Myles praises them a lot. Let's give them a listen.

Edit: That Mastodon album was really good. One of the better albums I've heard all year. Don't know why I overlooked it.

Going to listen to this now. All That Remains' Madness album. The 37th album released in 2017 that I have listened to. Well, they are supporting AB in the latest US tour. Might as well hear an album of theirs. I don't have high hopes, though, as this album is produced by Howard Benson.

One Drew Remains wrote:Greg, I found a bass player one town over who is into Maiden. Lol, I told him I can't do Maiden yet. Maybe an easy Priest song like Heads Are Gonna Roll or Headed Out to the Highway. Should be fun.

Sweet! I'll be crossing Kansas to check out the best Maiden/Priest cover band in MO soon!